Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) has issued a tender for the Bilaj Al-Jazayer independent power project (BAJ solar IPP), a utility-scale solar scheme with a planned capacity of at least 100MW.

The project will be procured on a public-private partnership basis using a build-own-operate (BOO) model.

The selected developer will develop, finance, design, construct, operate, maintain, decommission and restore the project site over a 25-year contract period.

EWA has set a target commercial operation date of 31 December 2028.

The scope includes photovoltaic generation facilities, utility-scale inverters, access roads and internal roads. The plant will use proven photovoltaic modules and inverters designed for Bahrain’s local operating conditions.

The tender was published on 8 November. Companies have until 20 December to submit bids, with bid opening scheduled for 21 December.

The tender requires an initial bond of BD300,000 ($796,000).

The project will be awarded through a single-stage request-for-proposals process.

Bidders will first be assessed against minimum eligibility requirements covering financial strength, project-financing capability and experience in large-scale solar developments before their technical and financial proposals are evaluated.

A single bidder must demonstrate tangible net worth of at least $50m.

In a consortium, each member must demonstrate net worth equivalent to its proposed shareholding in the $50m threshold, while the managing member must have a tangible net worth of at least $20m.

The managing member must also have secured at least $150m of limited-recourse financing across three or more infrastructure projects during the past 10 years. It must hold at least a 15% equity stake in each reference project.

Bidders or their engineering, procurement and construction contractors must demonstrate experience delivering either three grid-connected ground-mounted solar projects of at least 100MWac each globally, or two projects of at least 70MWac each in the GCC. The reference projects must be connected to the grid at 66kV or above.

The BAJ solar IPP supports Bahrain’s target of sourcing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2035.